


Consanguine

by swaneewhistleandkazoo



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Dad!Coulson, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Love, May contain spoilers, Missing Scene, Post season 5 speculation, Sandwich, Speculation, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 02:04:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14368539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swaneewhistleandkazoo/pseuds/swaneewhistleandkazoo
Summary: A collection of Fics exploring the Fitzsimmons familyEach fic is a stand alone and can be read as an individual story. Chapters may have different ratings and warnings will be placed on chapters which may have triggersChapter 1 Family Traits- Deke reflects on traveling to the past and meeting his grandparents.Chapter 2 Deke and Simmons Day Of Fun! - Post 5x14 The Devil Complex- Daisy, while dealing with getting her powers back tries to locate Deke and Simmons on the base while they have a day out of Grandson/Grandmother bonding and commit a few feloniesChapter 3 Unreconcilable - For the first time in over twenty years Alistair Fitz meets with his son. Warnings for arseholeness and referenced abuseChapter 4 Finally We Found Something Magnificent - Fitz and Simmons and most of the rest of the family reunite of the Chronicom ship. Post Season 5 with Season 6 speculation Warning Spoilers for season 5 finale, mild swearing





	1. Family Traits- Deke POV

**Author's Note:**

> Deke reflects on traveling to the past and meeting his grandparents.

So far the past has been confusing; twist his brain into pretzels confusing.

For one thing Earth hasn’t been destroyed yet, so he can go to outside and there is a freaking outside! The Earth is huge and for a guy that has been stuck inside a space station for his whole life it’s almost too much to take in. When his Mom and Dad used to describe the world, their home planet, he always used to think they must be making parts of it up cos for a kid who has only ever know a space station the idea that something existed which isn’t surrounded by machinery and airlocks isn’t something he can quite picture.

A lot of things here are better to; the food for one thing and alcohol, the people are nicer to most of them anyway, but then they don’t have to live with being killed for sport or having their children taken away to be slaves to their blue overlords. However the people he is stuck with are hyper focused super hero types: Coulson is a little uptight for him but then he doesn’t have the whole leadership of the only people who can save the world weight on his shoulders. Mack’s very chill and YoYo is just plain cool.

May honest to God frightens him.

And Daisy is Daisy and that is a whole different kettle of fish. 

He’s seen fish now they live in water not kettles.

Then there’s the whole run into your own grandparents when they’re young and haven’t even given birth to your mother yet. And attend their wedding. And get them their rings, that your Mom then will wear and give you the idea to buy it for your Nanna when you see it in the pawn shop.

If he thinks anymore about time travel, paradoxes and time loops he’s gonna pretzel his brain into an extra pretzelly pretzel.

The drive to be close to his blood family is weird too and oddly persistent. Has him lurking around the lab, researching them as he likes to tell himself. He loves to watch them together though, like he is right now leaning against the railing watching his insanely smart Grandparents try to figure out how to stop the earth from cracking like an egg. He always thought his parents were perfectly in love, the very picture of a married pair, with his Dad devoted to taking on his Mom’s mission and beliefs even after she died. His parents have nothing on his grandparents, it’s incredible obvious to everyone that they are the light in each other’s world and are so devoted to each other that he can’t believe there wasn’t a time when they didn’t know that they were in love with each other. He remembers vaguely from Daisy speech after the wedding ceremony that apparently they were the only ones in the entire WORLD that didn’t know that they had feelings for each other. And apparently they had been friends for a whole TEN YEARS.

He wishes he knew more about them and how they got together, his Mom had tried to tell him several times but being a little boy, stories about love had made him whine and pretend to throw up and eventually she would stop, tickle him tummy and tell that he was her silly boy.

The really weird thing is that he can see his Mom in both of them.

It makes sense seeing as she got genes from both of them – he’s not taking that thought any further though. She explained to him that traits can get passed down though families in their genetics and looking at them he can understand it.

If he looks at Jemma and squints a little he can see his Mom in her underlying bone structure, the shape of the cheek bone and jaw, the slope of the nose. Their smile the same too, quick, bright and cheerful even when things seemed/are bad. Her and his Mom’s hands are similar as well, thin fingers and small palms, cleverly solving problems and always freezing cold. He had a jolt the first time she passed him something after he realised she was his Nanna and saw the hands that tucked him in every night. Later observation makes him realises they would be within a few inches in height as well. But its more than the physical that makes him think about his Mom when he’s around Jemma its personality as well.

His Mom is there in Jemma’s kindness, steadfast hope and unbelievable smartness, shes in her little gestures as well, the flick of the hand, tilt of the head or the ways she stands, an echo from her future and his past.

Makes it easy for him to love her.

His Mom is harder to see in Fitz, although that might be because he’s so busy and short with everyone except his wife and cos Fitz is a man. He can’t help but admire a man who took the long way through time to save his friends, insulted the Big Blue in charge, then invented a time machine. And clearly is the brain in charge of inventing the machines that save all their butts.

Yeah his Bobo is so cool!

But his Mom does exist in Fitz, she has his eyes for one thing blue and bright that catches and catalogues everything going on in the world. And his razor mind and sharp tongue that they both use on people who displease them, mainly him. She had his curls in her red brown hair, clearly Fitz and Simmons carried to genes for red hair, and his Scottish pale skin. After careful observation and having to quickly grow thick skin, Bobo can be mean, it becomes obvious that Mom got her determination and drive from her Pops as well as that intensity of loving someone the way that Fitz loves Simmons and that his Mom loved his Dad and him.

He tries to see if he’s like them, spending ages in front of the mirror to see if he can see them in his face, until Daisy yells at him to get out. He always thought he looked more like his dad than his mom and it comes as a shock to realise that he does look a little bit like Fitz and he likes to think that he has Jemma’s eye colour.

Although brown is the most common human eye colour.

It does come as a shock that he does have some of their gestures and personality which he always thought he got from his Mom. Their intelligence for one thing though he never had the learning they did he does pick up things very quickly. More annoyingly he's found out that he is loyal to a fault with friends that are worth it, in fact that that loyalty is what got him here in the first place, As well little gestures like putting his hands on his hip when he is thinking or frustrated, tapping his forehead when trying to explain something and rambling. Oh God the rambling and digging yourself deeper into embarrassment.

Who knew putting your foot in it was genetic.

Still every time he sees a bit of his Mom in both of them or both of them and his Mom in him it adds to the warm glow in his chest.


	2. Deke and Simmons Day Of Fun! Daisy POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post 5x14 The Devil Complex- Daisy, while dealing with getting her powers back tries to locate Deke and Simmons on the base while they have a day out of Grandson/Grandmother bonding and commit a few felonies

She couldn’t find Deke.

More worryingly she couldn’t find Jemma.

Daisy placed her hands on the wall of the bunker and concentrated on feeling the vibrations. It wasn’t a trick she often used her powers for but sometimes she could sense the vibrations of people she knew, she wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t already checked everywhere.

The control room was buzzing with various agents working steadily on locating Coulson, the training area where May was pushing some of the younger agents through their paces although this was more likely a way for her to relieve some of the tension she was feeling with Coulson being missing and her being unable to help or stop him. She could tell that from the yelps and thuds that echoed through the room. The med bay where she spent a happy few minutes with Mack and Yo-Yo listening to them bicker and flirt about who was being more over protective over who.

She couldn’t bring herself to go into the isolation chamber and see Fitz, she could handle seeing him now when her emotions were so raw from what he did. Anyway the room outside the isolation chamber was empty and she could just catch a glimpse of her friend’s back as he had turned away from the world and hid himself away.

She felt all the vibrations throughout the walls of the base there were too many people in there now to accurately guess which was which. She dusted of her hands and started toward the control room again, maybe her other super power would help her track the duo down.

The ground and air rumbled and fizzed with vibrations and she couldn’t quite deny herself that she had missed them. Her powers where part of her, as much part of her as her arms and legs or hearing, all the time she had had the implant in and blocked away from them she had felt it missing like a deep black hole inside her chest.

But the possible devastating price of having that part of herself back was too much. She didn’t want to be responsible for destroying the earth to be responsible for that terrible future to be known as the Destroyer of Worlds. And that Fitz, her friend a brother from another mother, had made that future possible again by turning on her powers without her permission was too much.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Piper and Davis coming towards her, she fixed an as friendly smile as she could muster on her face at them. “Hey Guys?” She tried to sound as light as possible “Have either of you seen Simmons or Deke? No one has seen them for hours”

Piper smiled nervously as if she still wasn’t sure she was fully back in the fold “Yeah we just saw them in the common area. I think they went out for some air”

It surprised her that Simmons would do something so reckless when they are fugitives from almost every law enforcement agency in the world, but then she guessed any person would want to get a little air when there partner had a psychotic episode when his evil side took over.

She was not surprised Deke had done this stupid thing.

She ran along the corridor and skidded into the common area, in the kitchen were both Deke and Simmons along with many shopping bags. Jemma had her back to her and was clearing prepping some food while Deke sat on the stool next the table top and was leafing through a big book.

She threw herself at Jemma and hugged her quickly but tightly and pushed her away, worry for them made her sound more angry then she really felt, “Where on earth have you two been? You didn’t tell anyone where you had gone!”

Jemma flinched away from her and she noticed how drawn and pale she was, she definitely hadn’t been eating and by the dark circles under her eyes she hadn’t been sleeping either. Deke popped between them and she had to resist the urge to quake him into something. “Hey” he held his hand up placating, although his body language was kinda sorta protective towards Simmons. “Jemma had a bit of a shock and We thought we would go and get some air…” seeing the tension was defusing he sat back down and began leafing through his book again “…and thus began Deke and Jemma’s Day of Fun!”

 He sounded waaaay to happy about that than anyone should.

He looked at her expectantly waiting for her to ask what they had been up to. She glanced at Simmons, how gave her a look that clearly said _humour him_

“So what did you guys get up too?” she asked while idly sipping some of the energy drink that Simmons had brought for her, Jemma was clearly making sandwiches.

“Well” he looked around conspiringly “First of all we robbed a hospital”

She spat out the mouthful she had just drunk in shock “You Waaa???”

He made little relax motions with his hands “Chill Ok, we didn’t really rob it. Fitz needs some medication for his.., you know” he tapped his temple earning a glower from Simmons “So Jemma forged me a prescription and all I had to do was go up to the lady, give her the form and tell her I was from the future” he chuckled “you can’t believe how fast we got it.”

Of course Simmons would be trying to help Fitz in any way possible he’d taken medication before to deal with his brain injury and obviously they wouldn’t have them in the base.

“Then we snuck up to the….” Deke glanced at Simmons and she couldn’t quite read the look that passed between them, it lasted a while and then Simmons slowly, gently and sadly shook her head. Deke briefly looked like a kicked puppy and cleared his throat and continued “Anyway…never mind then we went to get some extra medical supplies for Mack and Yo-Yo. They have so many things to make people better you wouldn’t believe”

She temporarily tuned Deke wittering on about the marvels of modern medicine out to look at Simmons, her friend didn’t usually hid things from her but then thing were still bad between them.

“Then Jemma said that it was such a nice day we should go for a walk” she tuned back in to Deke. His face was alive with discovery and she knew she had seen that expression on someone before but she couldn’t quite place it. “told me all about the trees and flowers and animals, how the world work then she got me this encyclopaedia to bring me up to speed.”

She glanced down and sure enough the book Deke was looking at was an encyclopaedia, it was probably a good idea, couldn’t having him running off into the world and getting himself killed or worse exposing them.     

“Then we went to this place call Denny’s, God their cheese burgers are even better than the one I had at that bar where I got arrested.” Deke turned the page of his encyclopaedia and was temporally distracted by a diagram of the earth’s crust. She took the opportunity to study Simmons, who was nearly finished stacking the sandwiches but had a fond smile on her face, clearly enjoying listening to Deke babble on about to various merits of Orangeade.

Simmons slid a plate with cheese and pickles on it over to her a small smile a peace offering maybe. She look it gladly she was starving and Simmons made amazing sandwiches. Then Jemma slid another plate over towards Deke. It was her amazing prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella sandwich with pesto aioli, why was she making it for Deke?

He looked at it oddly as if unsure what to make of someone giving him food instead of trying to steal it “No one has made me a sandwich in a long long time”

He looked at it looked a Simmons and then look a bite. He chewed it slowly and thoughtfully then swallowed. He put the sandwich back on the plate gently and hunched in on himself clearly blinking away tears. Simmons with a concerned look on her face placed her and on his shoulder whn he abruptly got up and hugged her tightly his face buried in her neck. Simmons hugged him back and petted his back soothingly.

“Everything with be Okay Jemma” The certainty in his voice was so sincere “We won’t lose him”

He then resumed the attack on his sandwich with vigour.

Simmons’s squeezed his shoulder, a thank you maybe for his support and then collected the other sandwich and tucked the bag of medication under her arm. Juggling these items she picked up a thermos of tea.  “We’ll watch Back to the Future later, after I talk to Fitz Ok?” and after exchanging another smile with Deke, his cheeks bulging like a chipmunk and a tentative smile at her she departed the room to visit her self-imprisoned husband.

She picked at her sandwich in silence pondering over the sudden change in Simmons and Deke’s relationship. Simmons had barely been tolerating Deke and Deke had barely seemed to notice her and Fitz. And then he had seemed overly interested in their relationship. What had changed? What was going on?

Even though she was angry at Fitz and even a little a Simmons she couldn’t stop herself from speaking up. “Don’t do it Deke,” He looked at her all confused, which was kind of adorable “Don’t get in between of Fitz and Simmons, she’ll never stop loving him”

“Eww” He dropped what remained of his sandwich and cringed at her “What are you implying?” then his face contorted with disgust. He waved his hand animatedly in denial “No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, NO, its not like that” He dropped his head and he looked so woebegone for a moment that she felt sorry for him.

“Really twelve No’s” She teased him gently.

“Its not like that.” He said quietly fiddling with the remains of his sandwich “Its just she…she reminds me of my Mom” he cleared his throat and shrugged “she was like Jemma, and I guess she just reminds me of her, being around Jemma help me remember her”

He ate the rest of his sandwich and then polished of her half eaten one and they both sat there in silence her deep in thought him reading the encyclopaedia until

“These monkey things are the coolest things ever!”

Spacemen!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deke and Simmons break into the maternity ward to check if she's pregnant (after the throwing up in Devil's complex). However I left it ambiguous if she is or not because I want to know how the show is going to deal with it.


	3. Unreconcilable - Alistair Fitz POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the first time in over twenty years Alistair Fitz meets with his son. Warnings for arseholeness and referenced abuse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to be safe, Alistair Fitz's views on women, marriage and child rearing are purely his own and not the authors in any way.

Alistair Fitz took a deep pull on his pint enjoying that first taste and the afternoon spilling through the window, the pub was mostly empty with only a few regulars steadily making their way through their pints. It didn’t bother him that he was in the pub far too early some of his best work had been started in pubs and while this place wasn’t the best pub in Glasgow its beer was good, it was quite and he hadn’t been banned from it yet. He leaned back against the faded fabric of his regular booth and let himself relax.

He was gazing out of the window lost in thoughts of his work when someone coughed politely disturbing his thoughts. Anger bubbled up inside him, people really should know that they shouldn’t disturb his genius and he turned to send these people away with a flea in their ear. The sharp words on the tip of his tongue died when he saw the motley crew of three looking at him.

He took his time to look them over and assess them.

 The leader was an older man with a pleasant expression on his face, even so he could tell this was not a man you could intimidate easily and there was something in his stare said that said however bad you think you are I guarantee I have seen worse. A taller younger man with his arm is a sling leaned against the bar, looking around the bar with intense interest. Finally standing behind the leader with his hands in his pockets and shoulders around his ear was his son Leopold. Leopold was still short and slight, still refused to meet his eyes and look anywhere but at the ground, like a coward. To his disgust Leo sported that appalling stubble young people are so fond of these days which made him look untidy and unprofessional at lest he was wearing a shirt and acceptable trousers.

The boss cleared his throat again “Mr Fitz I presume?” Wonderful he was an American

“Doctor” You have to remind these people who they were speaking to.

“Doctor Fitz, My name is Phil Coulson I am the director of SHIELD, I’m sure you remember your son Agent Fitz and” He glance around temporarily confused at where the young one had gone and gestured with over at sling boy “and that is Deke Shaw”

 Now there was something you didn’t hear every day, if SHIELD were approaching him then clearly it was a task worth of his genius. He gestured at Coulson to sit down opposite side of the booth. Leo didn’t move and stood staring holes into the wooden flood of the bar and the other guy who was examining a slot machine with concentrated interest.

He was clearly eavesdropping.

Coulson sat comfortable down on the bench, ignoring the tensions growing between himself and Leo and briefly examined the drinks menu. He put it aside after a minute and tented his fingers. “Dr Fitz, your former college Holden Radcliffe’s research has told us that you are a leader in the field of robotics and have experience calibrating mechanics to work under high pressure and at high speed.”

It was a long time since he had heard from Radcliffe, way back when Leo was small. The man was brilliant but a little to obsessed with augmenting himself with technology and immortality. Leo had twitched at the mention of Radcliffe like he was trying not to think of something unpleasant.

“What happened to Radcliffe?”

A slight shadow fell across Coulson face “Mr Radcliffe is no longer with us” The only person more skilled at robotics was gone, now he was truly a leader in his field.

He nodded and let a cold satisfied smile spread across his face while Coulson continued “Dr Fitz we have a project for you to undertake” Coulson spread several blueprints across the table, they were beautifully designed prosthetics of two arms but closer inspection of the blueprints made him realise that these were designed to move and respond at phenomenal speed.

He jerked his thumb at Leo “Why can’t he do it?” His boy the one his ex wife used to say so proudly was oh so clever was incapable of creating these robotics. That made him feel smug.

She was wrong the boy wasn’t as smart as she’d thought he was.

Coulson smiled pleasantly “Agent Fitz has done brilliant work on robotic prosthetics in the past” he took off his hand and allowed him to examine it. The work was exemplary and barely indistinguishable from a real limb and reattached easily when Coulson reattached it.

Maybe Leo wasn’t as worthless and he had thought.

Coulson continued “However he is working on several highly important project of his own at the moment, I can’t spare him for this. These arms are for a agent of mine who has suffered a severe injury on behalf of SHIELD and I want her to have suitable replacement as the current version of these prosthetics are currently not suitable”

Looking at the speed these limbs had to go he’d hazard a guess that the agent in question was an inhuman.

It was too interesting work not of him to try to complete.

Also his bank draft was very low and he was very behind on his bills the bailiffs were closing in “But nothing in this world is free Mr Coulson”

Coulson leaned back with his arms crossed “What do you want?” That is what he liked.

“I want my twice usual rate of consulting I use for major companies” SHIELD could afford it, which was proved when Coulson nodded calmly as if it was a given. “I’ll need some specialised equipment that the lab I work at doesn’t have”

Again Coulson nodded calmly “SHIELD will arrange the equipment you need”

He turned to look at Leo properly for the first time, who was clearly trying to ignore everything he said. “And I want an hour with my son”

Shocked Leo looked at him properly for the first time.

Coulson looked almost as surprised as Leo did. “Why? You haven’t seen each other in over twenty years.”

He slammed his hands down on the table making his empty pint glass jump, Leo had exceeded his expectations and he wanted to know more about what his son had done To know what his son’s hands have had, what his son’s mind had created. “That is precisely why I want to spend some time with MY son! Agent Coulson and he is my son Agent Coulson I am entitled to know more about him. An hour or I suggest that you find someone else to make your designs for you.”

An intense debate raged on Coulson’s face until Leo stepped forward “S-sir Its Ok” The boy was still a stuttered.

An almost fatherly expression came over the older agents face “are you sure because…”

Leo squared his shoulders “With respect Sir, I’ve survived worse” They shared an odd smile like they were making a joke and Coulson slid out of the booth and squeezed the younger mans shoulder. There was a sudden loud swearing from across the bar, the young man had knocked over a regulars drink in his enthusiasm about the slot machine and was hurriedly backing away from him and the regular advanced with a murderous expression on his face.

“You better get Deke out of here, before they kill him.” Deke had grabbed a pool cue and looked ready to use it one handed

Coulson grinned “I’ll show him Buchannan Street, he’ll like that” with that he dragged the young man out the door still wielding his pool cue like a staff.

“Don’t get him a fired mars bar you’ll both get arrested” Leo called after them.

As Leo slid into the booth, he signalled the barmaid for another round of pints. While she hurried to fill Leo’s order he took the opportunity to look at his son closely for the first time in just over twenty years. He remembered nine year old Leo sitting opposite him in a café fiddling with toy car parts completely ignoring him, it had been during one of the times he’d tried to make an effort with Leo to mould him into the man he needed to be to be a success. But Leo had only spoken to him when answering a question and glared at him with baleful eyes whenever he mentioned his mother.

Not much had changed in the twenty or so years since they’d sat together only this time the barmaid put two pints in front of them instead of a pint and a cola. He reached to take a pull of his pint while Leo stared into the amber depths of his pint as if it held the secrets of the universe at the bottom.

Silence ruled.

“So…” He broke the silence “How’s your Mum?”

Leo’s voice was low, matter a fact and bitter “Better now you’re not around.”

No matter how long it had been since he’d seen Leo, he still had the ability to get him to the end of his tether, “You will not speak to me that way Leo. I am still your father and”

“Fitz” Fitz interrupted him sharply “No one calls me Leo anymore” Fitz as if they were just workmates.

“Damn it Leo” He slapped his palm on the table to show he meant business “You will treat me with respect!”

Fitz had flinched when he had slammed the table but he glared back at him unflinchingly “Y-you walked out on us when I was t-ten, you left mum alone.” His lip curled up into a sneer “I don’t owe you anything!” He reached out and took a swig of his pint and he noticed that Fitz’s hands had a slight tremor to them.

Disgusted he shook his head at his son in disappointment even now as an adult Fitz couldn’t hide his fear. “I tried to make you a man Fitz” he stressed his sons chosen name mockingly “and ever now you can’t pull it together and be a man. You’re still showing weakness” he motioned to Leo’s shaking hand.

Fitz had his eyes fixed firmly on his pint “Hypoxia”

Nothing else Fitz could have said could have stopped him from completing his speech in expressing his disappointment in his son. “wha?”

He’d never been interrupted in one of his triads before and it complete through him

“Hypoxia” Fitz repeated and tapped his forehead “I got hurt when Hydra first crawled back out of the woodwork, I was without oxygen and it damaged part of my brain.” He glared at him “I have trouble remembering words sometimes and my hands shake because of it too.” He sipped his drink.

“It’s not because I’m afraid.”

Fighting Hydra eh? Maybe his son wasn’t such a coward after all.

They stewed in silence for ten minutes letting tempers and emotions settle. Though Fitz’s hands were empty of toy engines or wires they were in constant motion, his first thought was that Fitz was massaging his bad hand, but then he saw a gleam of silver-gold on the forth finger of Fitz’s right hand as he twisted and turned his wedding ring deep in thought.

So he had a daughter in law.

He flicked his finger at the ring “So you got married eh?”

For the first time since he’d sat down Fitz smiled slightly. “Yeah”

Getting information out of his kid was like pulling teeth.

“Jemma Simmons” and just like that his kids face transformed. It was like looking at a completely different person, like his world had just been lit up at the mere mention of her.

“I don’t get to meet her” He would only allow a truly remarkable woman to remain with his son.

Leo shrugged one shoulder “She wanted to come and support me, but I didn’t want her to meet you” he took another sip of his pint and sighed tiredly “plus she said that I needed to get to know Deke” What Deke had to do with this he had no idea.

“You got a picture of her?”

Leo sighed again, he hated sighing it was a sign of apathy and drew his phone from his pocket, he flicked it on and showed him a picture. This Jemma Simmons was a pretty young woman around the same age as his son with long brown hair and a classically attractive face, next to her was his son who was positively beaming and they stood with their arms around each other.

 Completely, deliriously happy to be in one another’s presence

He handed the phone back to his son “Your Mum didn’t tell me” He should have been present at his sons wedding, he was his father.

Fitz’s face turned surly again, clearly he didn’t like the idea of him being at his wedding “Mum doesn’t know.” He swallowed another sip of his beer “it was a recent thing”

“She pregnant?” That remark earned him another glare from Fitz but when he spoke again he sounded calm.

“Not yet” Fitz sounded very certain about that for some reason.

“Then why the hurry?” To Alistair Fitz you only married women you knocked up. That question earned him a disgusted look from his son.

Fitz twirled his ring around his finger observing the patterns of light glinting off it, he looked slightly sad “We just wanted to get married before something else terrible happened, before we got separated again.”

He took the chance to try to teach Leo how women should be treated “It doesn’t matter if you split up again Leo, There are plenty more fish…”

“Not to me” Fitz snapped at him, draining his pint and glancing at his watch.

 He had had enough with Leo’s disrespect of him. He pinned Leo with his gaze and was gratified to see Leo cringe back from him. He leaned forward invading Leo’s personal space.

“Your problem Boy, is that you care to much. It’s your Mother talking and her womanly weakness that prevents you reaching your potential”

“My Mother raised me to be a good man!” Leo snapped fiddling with his empty glass. He chose to ignored Leo and continued on to press his point.

“Don’t snap at me Boy, I could have raised you to be a great man “He bellowed “You’re an agent in a dying organisation, you’re not even a director of Sci-ops. You’re held back by how your mother raised you, by SHIELDs principles. If I’d raised you I’d have thrashed that out of you so you wouldn’t buckle to guilt or womanly sentiments. I’d have taught you to respect me and how to get respect. You didn’t get that strap cross your back and look where it’s gotten you! You could have been great, so much Wasted Potential!!!”

Something dark and dangerous flittered across Leo’s face a moment before Leo’s pint glass shattered on the wall behind him. He felt himself being grabbed by the collar and physically hauled out of the booth and pinned against the wall. He was taller than his son and heavier but his son held him still by the front of his shirt with only a little visible effort.

“It’s not a weakness” Leo snarled at him, hot breath brushing his cheek and for the first time in a while he felt afraid, he wasn’t lecturing to a frightened boy anymore nor to a lesser person but to a superior. And that intimidated him as much as that sudden change in Leo had.

Their tussle disturbed the regulars and the barmaid but Leo released him breathing heavily before anyone intervened or the police were called. He paced rapidly in a tight circle, running his hands through his short hair. Dimly while he was trying to regain his breath, he remembered Leo doing similar motions as a child to calm himself down from an angry outburst.

Fitz whirled around on him vibrating with rage. “I know what sort of person I’d be if you’d raised me” he shouted “I’ve been him, he’s a monster! He kills people in cold blood! he tortured inhumans in the name of scientific discovery! He nearly killed Jemma and the rest of friends and he wouldn’t care! He’s a ruthless sociopath that enjoys every minute of it!”

Fitz paced around like a tiger in a cage “I’m glad you left and Mum had to raised me by herself even though it was hard. Cos I got to meet Jemma, I got to meet my team! Cos otherwise I’d be a twisted sociopath, thinking I’m better than everyone else.”

The _like you_ was unsaid but implied.

He was stunned leaning against the wall trying to regain his breath and realigning his world view that his boy believed he was better off without him. A few soft wheezing noises came out of his mouth as he tried to put Leo back in his place but not words came out.

Fitz slammed his open palm onto the table to get his attention “You will complete this work for Coulson” Leo was commanding each word precise and clear and all he could do was nod along it agreement “You will complete the project satisfactorily or I will make sure all of your funding disappears. Do I make myself clear?”  

“Perfectly”

“Good.” Fitz straightened his collar easing them back into faultless alignment. The dangerous look in Fitz’s blue eyes faded slowly away and he started to play with his ring again twisting it round his finger and rubbing the smooth platinum surface.

Alistair felt himself slide back into his seat and downed the second half of his pint while the barmaid, with a fearful glance at Leo swept up the shattered glass. It had been a long time since he had been physically and mentally cowed and to have it done to him by his own son was maddening like an old lion, being surpassed by a younger rival male. Briefly it occurred to him to wonder how Fitz knew what it would have been like to be raised from him.

 He didn’t want to know his son worked for SHIELD they ran into weird stuff on a daily basis. It did make him respect him slightly more now though. Fitz might deny it but in some ways he took after his old man.

The bar clock chimed the hour and Agent Coulson and the young man Deke burst back in to the pub and looked only mildly surprised it was still there. Agent Coulson strode over to them, surprisingly cheerful for a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“Are we in agreement Dr Fitz?”

He contemplated Leo for a moment and then Coulson. It would not be wise to double cross either of them. He stood wiped his hands on his slacks and they shook hand. “We are indeed Agent Coulson.”

Coulson nodded “We’ll send you everything you need”

Leo slid out of the booth and stood next to his boss, he didn’t look at him “I’ll see you Alistair.”

He very much doubted that he would. Leo wandered over to Deke and took a firm grip on Deke’s jacket, dragging him away from the slot machine that he had been fascinated with earlier. He couldn’t quite catch their muttered conversation, Deke appeared to be enthusiastically recounting his day and Leo had a resigned but fond look on his face.

Coulson dusted his hands on his trousers “We’ll be in touch Dr Fitz”

As unobtrusively as they had arrived they left, Leo only looked back at him once, his face was unreadable. He pulled one of the blue print back closer and signalled for another beer.

Time to get to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've wanted to write Fitz and his Dad for a while but writing Fitz Senior's POV was hard. Ugh, I'm off to write something fluffy.
> 
> Deep fried Mars Bars are a real thing. Not great for your health but still real. Deke trying one would be hilarious, hmmm.


	4. Finally We Found Something Magnificent- Fitz PoV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fitz and Simmons and most of the rest of the family reunite of the Chronicom ship. Post Season 5 with Season 6 speculation Warning Spoilers for season 5 finale, mild swearing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am devastated about the season 5 finale, completely heartbroken. I’m glad we have Season 6 but it better be amazing with Fitzsimmons getting their happy ever after. But it’s a long way off and I have to get a better image in my head. I understand why they did it, I wondered what would happen to Frozen Fitz if they did break the loop. But still the hurts I don’t usually cry at tv shows/films but I did this time.….. anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Waking up from being cryo-sleep is like fighting your way up 90 feet of freezing cold water, from what he can recall from his vague memories of Jemma dragging him to safety after Ward almost killed them. It’s a slow, steady inevitable process in stages wrenching him from completely dark, silent abysses where he has little or no conscious thought to a hazy twilight zone where his mind is starting to come back online full of confusing dreams and distorted images. Finally he’s hovering just below the surface of complete awareness, this is the worst part because his mind is full back online and struggling to wake up, to complete his mission and find his friends….

Jemma

For months he’s been terrified for her, searched for her and missed her terribly. According to Robin and Enoch he needed to get the future and rescue them and now he was stuck, helpless and struggling trapped while his body wakes itself.

He thrashed helplessly against the tide, trying to free himself

To get where he needs to be

Waking up when it comes is quite easy in comparison, like waking up from a normal sleep. He breaks the surface of consciousness and takes a deep cleansing breath, saturating his lungs with oxygen. His eyes take their time adjusting to the light and the world is a blur until he blinks several times and the world comes into view.

To be honest he wasn’t sure what he expected to find when he woke up in the future but it certainly wasn’t this.

For a start he’s not in the cryogenic chamber he carefully restored and programmed he’s lying in a bunk, one of the zephyrs it looks like, blanket gently pulled up to his chin. The engines don’t sound quite like a zephyr’s engine a low continuous hum instead of a jet engines heavy rumble. Briefly he considers the possibility if he’s dreamt the whole thing, that his mind is so fractured from the hypoxia damage and from the framework that he’s been hallucinating again.

Or maybe something has gone terribly wrong and Hunter and Enoch had to pull him out of the chamber and find some old shield base to help him recover. If that’s the case then he has no hope of finding Jemma or rescuing the others, no hope of the happy future he has been planning for them since they got together.

He wants to leapt up, charge off and demand the information he needs from his companions but his muscles in his back and shoulders have seized up and he’s forced to sit up as slowly as an old man. Muscles, joints and bones creaking and cracking from disuse, at least the chamber has kept him in as good as condition as when he froze himself, the stiffness should clear up after a bit of exercise and stretching. The pain is so bad that he has to lower himself back down, his spine popping as it stretches but he manages to prop himself up with a pillow so he can see around the room a little better.

His eyes bounce around the room and immediately his eyes are drawn to her and the world narrows to her alone. It’s how it’s always been between them. Instantly the tight binds of stress constricting his chest since they’ve been parted vanish, he’s been living with for so long it’s a novelty to breathe so easily. He’s flooded with such relief and an overwhelming amount of love for her that his head starts spinning.

He’s found her.

Or she’s found him.

Doesn’t matter as long as they are together

It doesn’t matter that she’s dozing opposite him, leaning against the wall; it allows him to drink her in. Hungrily his eyes absorb her features: trace the contours of her face, the dark wave of her hair, the rest of her body loose with sleep. His blood making a rushing sound in his ears, she’s almost always up before him so it’s rare for him to have the opportunity to enjoy her peace and it allows his heart and breathing rate to settle.

And yet the longer he looks at her he can’t help but notice the lavender coloured bruised under her eyes from lack of sleep, how drawn and pale her skin is and that she’s thinner than he’s ever seen her. He wants to chide her, _eat Jemma, you have to eat your fragile little bird bones can’t tolerate you skipping meals because your distracted with a project._

He’s so enthralled in looking at her that the sound of a page turning makes him jump out of his skin. Straight away he’s wondering how he managed to miss that there was another person in the room with them, especially as Jemma is resting her head on his shoulder. He doesn’t recognise the young man at all, but he does get a strange feeling that he should. He got dark hair and eyes, a sprinkling of stubble on his cheek, his headphones produce a little _tsk tsk tsk_ sound of his music and he’s reading his encyclopaedia with ferocious intensity. The strangers a lot taller than either him or Jemma with his legs stretched out in front of him he looks impossibly tall, they almost touch his bunk.

The jump he made must have caught the man’s eye as he looks up sees he’s awake and gives a little start which in turn disturbs Jemma. She sucks a little breath in as she wakes and her brown eyes look around hazily and then focus on him. He can hear her sudden sharp intake of breath.

The world falls away again. His breath catches and then he completely forgets to breath and he thinks she has as well.

The spell is broken just before he passes out from oxygen deprivation, Jemma scrambles to her feet and lunges at him, he manages to get his arms up in time and he’s holding her. He holding her again, feeling her warm skin on his, her tears, her breath on his neck as she presses her face into his shoulder. Burying his face in her hair he lets himself cry and they rock each other gently from side to side.

She’s sobbing his name over and over and he’s saying hers and as if from a great distance he hears the man mutter that he’s going to get the others.

She takes his face in her hands and basically covers his face with kisses just like she did when they were stuck at the bottom of the ocean. He sinks his fingers into her hair and pulls her into a proper kiss which is readily reciprocated. Drawing back, he presses their foreheads together.

Letting out a long sigh of relief he manages to calm himself enough to murmur “I have missed you so much Jemma. So so very much” he brushes his fingers against her cheekbone “and here you are”

He wants to ask her to marry him, right here right now but the words don’t come.

She’s half sobbing, half crying. She cups his face in her hands and brushes his stubble with her thumbs, which he leans into. “Oh Fitz, you have no idea how much…” she breaks off take a few deep calming breaths. Smiling tearfully at him she kissed him again and whispered wonderingly against his lips “I finally found something magnificent out in space”

They are interrupted by the bunk door flying open and a stampede of people flood into the room. Daisy is at the head of the crowd and skids across the room almost hitting the far wall and starts bouncing on the spot, hands covering her mouth as she bursts into tears. Mack is second into the room almost knocking to door of its hinges, bellowing “Turbo!” and grinning so widely all his teeth are sparkling his eyes are suspiciously damp. Yo-Yo flattens the new guy into the hall as she sprints into the room. Davis, Piper and the new guy all crowd the doorway.

Jemma reluctantly sits back and weakly he grins at them. A little space was all they needed to all suddenly tackle him in an enormous group hug all three of them have burst into tears. He’s never played rugby before but this is probably how it feels to be at the bottom of a scrum.

He hugs them back fiercely, he’s missed them too but just not as much as he missed Jemma. Rubbing Mack and Daisy’s backs, he can’t quite reach Yo-Yo he soaks up the reunion. Coulson and May aren’t with them and that concerns him quite a lot.  Where on earth could they be?

Air is becoming a real issue now so he pats Mack on the shoulder and trying to lighten the mood “Hey Guys its great to see you but please could I get a little room here? you’re kind of crushing me”

All three just start weeping even harder but they do let go and give him some room, Mack wraps Yo-Yo up in a hug and Daisy kept patting him gently on the chest and Jemma clutched his hands in a painfully tight grip. He furrows in confusion brain finally freeing itself from the storm of emotions and notices the changes. Sure they must have missed him but after the framework and everything he’d done they’re reaction was extreme? May and Coulson aren’t here they should be, where are they? What the hell, the why and the when did Yo-Yo get cybernetic arms? How did Agent Davis survive Aida? He thought for sure he was dead, it must be quite an amazing story. Why was Daisy wearing her quake braces off mission? Who on earth was the new guy grinning at him? How long had he been asleep?

He directs his question to the person he trust most “Jemma what happened? Enoch said that you guys were taken seventy years into the future and Robin said that I needed to get there to rescue you? Where’s Coulson and May?”

They all look extremely sad.

Jemma moves his right hand to press in on the crook of her neck. “Fitz” she’s quite like she’s breaking something hard to him “We can change time.” He’s rocked to his core “It’s fluid and beautiful and unexpected.” She’s crying again “and so, so amazing”

The room is full of sniffles, but he still doesn’t understand.

She can see he doesn’t understand and turns to the others “Could I get some alone time with Fitz?”

It takes a good ten to fifteen minutes for them all to leave with everyone coming back again and again for hugs and to ruffle his hair. Mack hugs him again for a whole three minutes. Yo-Yo hugs him repeatedly while offering prayers of thanks in Spanish. Likewise Daisy repeatedly embraces him and once he thought he heard her whisper “I forgive you” into his hair but she to quite for him to be sure. New Guy hugs him and introduces himself as Deke and then mumbles uncomfortably on how he knows him. Even Piper and Davis get in on the action, though they had never been that close. All the while he burns to be alone with Jemma and get the answers he needs.

Eventually they all file out of the bunk except for Deke who lingers eyes moving between him and Jemma. Finally when Jemma gets up to close the door Deke puts his hand on her shoulder “I’ll b in ear shot in case you need help explaining everything” He gestures loosely at the ship, them and this whole situation. Jemma smiled at him and draws him into a very tight hug and when they break apart Deke kissed her tenderly on the cheek. She closed the door behind him with a soft click.

He’d managed to prop himself up against the wall and she padded over to join him hands resting on her raised knees, leaning her head on his shoulder. It’s quite between them not uncomfortably so, he knows this silence and that shes just trying to sort out what she wants to tell him.

As good as it feels just to be with her, he needs to know.

“Jemma?”

She chuckled watery and gesticulated frustratedly “its just so much Fitz”

 Her gesture made him notice a silver gleam on the fourth finger of her right hand and his heart sinks into his socks, he’s not wearing shoes. He catches it gently and examines in detail, it’s a beautiful ring definitely a wedding ring. His chest hurts, he knew his actions in the framework had destroyed their future he just hoped…. Hoped he was wrong. Fighting back the pain was nearly impossible, like fighting a rabid wolf with his bare hands but he pushed it deep, her happiness was more important to him than having her with him.

Even if it’s to that handsome moron Deke.

He can’t keep the devastation from his voice though when he asks her “Jemma, are you married?”

Alarm crossed her face and a deep deep grief “Yes Fitz, its not what you think though.”  

He feels the savageness he’s felt since the framework rising and the bitterness “Who?” he asks quietly.

She draws a necklace from underneath her collar on it is a shining platinum ring and rubbed it with great care. He watched her throat move as she swallowed. “You Fitz, I married you”

In between bouts of tears she manages to tell him the whole story: about how and why they travelled to the past, about what happened at the Lighthouse and to humanities future, about how he arrived and rescued them and they’d all escaping back into the past bringing Deke their grandson back with them, about how they’d tried and succeeded in breaking the time loop, about their lovely wedding, about Coulson’s illness and more shockingly that Coulson and May were now in a relationship. Finally in halting words she told him about his future self’s death and how they had all resolved to find him.

Stunned and with fingers bloodlessly clutching his wedding ring he realised that Jemma still had her hand on his heart and realised that she was feeling his heartbeat, a reminded for her that he was alive. He’d done that when she’d returned from Maveth The agony she must have felt losing him, when she’d been taken to Maveth he’d been devastated but he had had the, not good fortune but to not to know if she was alive or dead because he could have hope she was still alive but Jemma had seen his dead body and only later realised there was a way to cheat the system since they had broken the loop and he was no longer needed to rescue them in the future..

“I couldn’t let you wake up seventy four years from now and be all alone” she sobbed in his arms “it was bad enough went I was without you in the future believing you’d died years before I’d even arrived there.”

He pulls her onto his lap and she wraps herself around him, trying to bury herself into his skin and they both cry then.

He cries for the Fitz who’d died just a few short eventful weeks into his marriage, for Coulson who he may never be able to say goodbye to, for May whose losing someone she loves and admires, for Yo-Yo and Mack, for what other Fitz did to Daisy and he cried for Jemma’s heartbreak.

At length though their sobs quietened to crying then to whimpers and then into a comfortable silence

He feels drained and empty but at the same time sort of peaceful and he suspects that Jemma feels the same way. The future is no longer set in stone and while they may never fully recover from their losses they can face that future together.

“What now?” He asks her

She’s as lost as he is “I don’t know Fitz, We have to get back to earth and help the Avengers but…” She trailed off “we’ve been working towards changing one future for so long I don’t really know where to go from here?”

“We’ll figure it out” He gave her a little squeeze “I’m sorry I missed our proposal and our wedding”

“Its ok Fitz, because of a Kree device I didn’t hear your first one and I just said “Marry me Fitz” while we were escaping and you said yes” They really do have the weirdest adventures.

His hearts in his mouth “Can I ask you to marry me again?”

She looks him in the eye in surprise and then a smile spread across her face, chasing away the shadows of grief and making her look like the young scientist he met when he was sixteen “Definitely”

He launches into his prepared speech and as he gets to the end his chest is tight and his heart is pounding. When he finishes his little speech he waits for her answer, He thinks he knows the answer, is almost certain of it, but still until you hear it you’re never quite certain.

“Absolutely”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The endings a little cheesy but I had to end it with fluff only that would sooth my pain.


End file.
